May 27, 2007
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – The Notre Dame rowing team finished 12th in the team competition at the at the 2007 NCAA Division I Rowing Championships which was held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Irish finished with 13 points as the Irish finished 12th overall in both the varsity eight and second eight races (sixth in the Petite Final) and were 11th overall (fifth in the Petite Final) in the varsity four competition.
Brown won the Division I national championship with 56 points, followed by Virginia (54), Ohio State (52), Yale (51), USC (48), Minnesota (47), California (38), Princeton (34), Tennessee (29), Washington (25) and Harvard.
This marked Notre Dame’s second appearance in the team competition. The Irish finished ninth overall in their first-ever appearance as a team a year ago at the 2006 NCAAs.
“I think we rowed hard, but just came up short today,” head coach Martin Stone said. “I think that our second varsity eight and varsity fours got faster during the course of the weekend and we saw improvement. Yesterday took a lot out of our varsity eight and I think that it showed today.
“With us getting back to the NCAAs again this year, our program has taken another step and I think that continue to gain credibility with our speed. We have much to look forward to in the future as we lose just four rows and a coxswain who participated in the NCAAs. We have taken another step for our program and I think we now have an idea of what we need to get better.
“I want to congratulate the University of Tennessee on hosting a great championship and providing a terrific atmosphere for all of the rowers.”
Notre Dame’s varsity eight crew of coxswain Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.), Lauren Buck (Flint, Mich.), Meghan Boyle (Pittsburgh, Calif.), Christine Trezza (Staten Island, N.Y.), Allison Marsh (Mashpee, Mass.), Laura Pearson (Bloomington, Minn.), Mary Quinn (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Julie Sobolewski (Haddonfield, N.J.), ranked sixth nationally, finished sixth in the Petite Final and was 12th overall as the Irish posted a time of 6:51.04.
Dartmouth was the winner of the Petite Final with a time of 6:43.95, followed by Tennessee (6:44.32), Stanford (6:45.71) and Harvard (6:49.16).
Yale won the gold medal with its first-place finish in the Grand Final with a winning time of 6:37.08, while Ohio State took second in 6:38.77. USC was third in 6:39.45, followed by Brown (6:39.55), Virginia (6:41.50) and Princeton (6:45.38).
In the “C” final, California was victorious with a time of 6:47.40, followed by UCLA (6:51.55), Washington (6:52.94) and Central Florida (7:03.18).
Notre Dame’s second varsity eight crew of coxswain Stephanie Szegedi (South Lyon, Mich.), Anni Nowhitney (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Mallory Glass (Okemos, Mich.), Ankica Jedry (Chicago, Ill.), Lindsay McQuaid (Beaverton, Ore.), Brittney Kelly (Wexford, Pa.), Jessica Guzik (Annandale, Va.), Elli Greybar (Western Springs, Ill.) and Sarah Kate Hafner (Tampa, Fla.) took sixth for the second consecutive year in the Petite Final to finish 12th-place overall. The Irish posted a time of 7:16.16.
USC was the winner of the Petite Final with a time of 6:58.34, followed by Tennessee (6:59.30), Yale (7:01.10), Harvard (7:06.34) and Princeton (7:11.15).
Minnesota won the gold medal in the Grand Final as the Gophers posted a time of 6:56.39, while California was second in 6:59.15. Brown took third in 6:59.71, followed by Virginia (7:01.52), Ohio State (7:08.52) and Washington (7:11.29).
The varsity four crew of coxswain Sarah Keithley (Austin, Tex.), Laura Petnuch (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Erica Copeland (Marietta, Ga.), Shannon Cassel (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Mary Kate McNamara (North Potomac, Md.) placed fifth in the Petite Final for an 11th-place finish overall as the Irish posted a time of 7:56.34, edging out sixth-place Harvard which posted a time of 7:56.91. It marked the second straight year that the Irish finished 11th overall in the varsity four at the NCAAs.
Southern California won the Petite Final with a time of 7:44.06, followed by Minnesota (7:49,31), Tennessee (7:54.18) and Ohio State (7:56.02).
Virginia earned a convincing victory in the Grand Final with a time of 7:35.03, followed by Brown (7:45.54), California (7:47.87), Princeton (7:50.90), Washington (7:53.75) and Yale (7:54.41).